


Filter Out The Bullshit

by ltomlinstagram



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, borderlinealcholic!louis, coupley!ziam, frat!niall, liar!harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-07
Updated: 2013-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-07 17:25:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/751110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ltomlinstagram/pseuds/ltomlinstagram
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is a pathological liar/radio one intern, Louis is a borderline alcoholic who works in a school library, Zayn is an English teacher, Liam is a tattoo artist, and Niall is a college-dropout bartender. <br/>[Title from 'Miss Cigarette' by Rizzle Kicks]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Louis is thirsty in more ways than one and Harry just wants to get laid.  
> Word Count: 1,279

Louis knew something was off when Mr. "I-only-want-a-few-tattoos" came home babbling about how he and his tattoo artist, Liam, made plans to do a half-sleeve five months ago. But never would he have thought it was something like /this/. Not that Louis had a problem with Liam, he was a great guy, really. It's just that sometimes, they get a little too coupley and it gets to be a little too much. So on nights like these, when Zayn invites Liam over, Louis simply can't keep the sneer from his face or his glass full. Because really, do they /have/ to be on top of each other the whole time? Is it /absolutely necessary/ for their lips to be connected every single second? Louis has asked Zayn about this, it isn't as if he hides his annoyance, but all he says is 'you'll understand when you find somebody you love.' in that sickening way he does when he talks about Liam. Stupid Zayn and his stupid adoration. Stupid Liam and his stupid lap that stupid Zayn finds so irresistible. Stupid-  
"Lou?" and suddenly there were fingers snapping in front of his face and two pairs of stupid brown eyes staring into his.  
Louis tried not to look so surprised. "What?" He snapped, perhaps a bit too defensively.  
"Uhm well, we couldn't help but notice how you seemed to be uh..." Liam trailed off, eyes flicking around nervously, crimson creeping its way to his cheeks.  
"You were watching us snog." Zayn finished for him bluntly. "I didn't think you were into that kind of thing and it's perfectly fine if you are but we really aren't."  
"No, I was staring off into space where you happened to be. And if you aren't into that then why do you always do it in the living room?"   
"We don't always do it in here." Liam objected.  
Zayn smirked. "Sometimes we go in your room."  
"How very dare you!" Louis scoffed. "I'll have you know that I don't change my sheets when I have a wank."  
"Ew,"  
"Yeah man, that's unsanitary."  
"Exactly! Maybe that'll teach you to stay out of there!" Louis grinned almost pridefully.  
"No that was a joke. We don't actually go in your room." Zayn revealed.  
"...Oh. Right well...I was joking too then."Louis insisted.  
"No you weren't."  
"That's gross."  
"You really need to wash your sheets."  
"Okay okay!" Louis threw his hands up dramatically. "Back to the point, make out in your own room and not in here. It's my flat too."  
"Let me think about it," Zayn paused thoughtfully. "No." And he promptly threw himself back onto his boyfriend.  
"I need another drink," Louis mumbled almost inaudibly to himself, reaching for tonight's wine bottle. He frowned when he saw that he had already emptied it.  
~  
"So then the cop said 'Just get off the roof miss!' and I yelled back 'Just because I'm wearing a bra and a wig doesn't mean I'm a girl!' and that's why I never slept with a Delta Kappa Delta ever again!" Niall finished, cuing a roar of laughter from the other side of the counter. Harry elbowed his way through the crowd to get to the bar, offering his apologetic, charming smile to anyone who was offended enough to speak up.  
"Hiya mate, you alright?" He greeted Niall when he got there, propping his elbows up on the bar and resting his chin on his fists.  
"Never better," Niall answered routinely, flashing his a winning smile.  
"You always say that." Harry pointed out.  
"It's always true." Niall answered easily, sliding Harry's usual fruity drink across the counter.  
"Ooh! A pink umbrella this time!" Harry took said umbrella from his drink and twirled it around a few times before sticking it behind his hair absurdly.  
Niall shrugged. "I felt like mixing things up a bit."  
"You're a doll."  
"So I've been told." Niall couldn't help grinning a bit at his praise. "So what've you been up to then?"  
"This and that," Harry replied vaguely before taking what might have been the longest sip ever. "Just got back from Venice."  
"No you didn't." Niall sighed, almost a disappointed look in his eyes.  
"I didn't, you're right." Harry kept his eyes trained on his drink. "Sorry. Emily says I have to write it down every time I...you know."  
"Lie?" Niall finishes for him. "Here." He passes Harry a napkin and a pen. "Go for it."  
"Thanks, don't have my journal with me." Harry took them and started scribbling messily.  
"Didn't think you did." Niall frowned a bit.  
"Have you been scouting for me?" Harry changed the subject.  
Niall almost looked offended. "Course! Three potential pulls tonight."  
"Ooh, do tell!"  
"There's a fit bloke that walked in about half an hour ago. He's over in the booth by the corner." Niall nodded discretely over to where a guy sat alone, surrounded by empty glasses.  
Harry snuck a look over his shoulder. "No! He blew me a few weeks ago." He paused. "And he's far too gone. Next."  
"Okay, what about the short, scruffy looking one on your right? Came in a few before you."  
Harry glanced to the man Niall was referring to. "Hm. Nice cheekbones. Cute fringe. He's a possibility. Who else you got?"  
"Tall quiffy hipster who has been standing behind you for a while. Looks a bit old for you though." Niall smirked.  
"Oi!" Came a familiar voice in Harry's ear.  
"Nick!" Harry spun around beaming.  
"Hey kid, alright?"  
"Great, yeah. You?"  
"Got a bit lonely. Thought I'd see if you were around." He took a seat beside Harry.  
"Well, here I am!" Harry spread his arms out.  
"Not for long though," Niall commented offhandedly in a sing-song voice.  
"What do you mean?" Nick turned to Harry. "What does he mean?"  
"Oh I'm off to catch a flight soon. My brother's getting married." Harry grinned cheerfully before downing the last of his drink.  
"I didn't know you had a brother-"  
"No I meant he's about to go chat up that fringy guy over there." Niall interrupted. "Harry write it down."  
"Right, sorry." Harry didn't look sorry. He wrote down the lie anyway. "Tell you what though, that bloke behind us in the booth is quite talented at giving head."  
Nick grinned and turned around in his chair, resting his elbows on the bar. "Thanks for the recommendation young Harry. I wish you luck on your en devour with fringe. Better hurry up though, looks like he's about to be off." And with that, Nick went to slide in next to the guy in the booth. He was right though, scruffy fringe guy was standing up and slipping on his jacket.  
"Better move fast." Niall advised. And so Harry did.  
"Hello." Harry stopped right in his path, blocking him from the door, turning his charm level up to the max. His cheeks were starting to hurt with the effort of making his dimple pop. "You're quite fit. Did you know that?"  
"I've heard it before." Fringe smirked like he was trying to be cocky but Harry could see the flush to his cheeks. Or maybe that was from the alcohol he had previously consumed. Whatever, Harry liked to think he was the cause. "You're quite fit yourself."  
"M'Harry."  
"Louis."  
"Like the French kings?"  
"Just like."  
"I'm a direct descendant from the last King Louis."  
"Are you?" French king Louis cocked an eyebrow. Harry could practically /feel/ Niall's disapproving glare.  
"No."  
"Oh."  
"Yeah."  
"You've got a pink umbrella in your hair."  
"I know."  
"Oh."  
"Want to have sex?"  
"Only if we go back to mine."  
"What are we waiting for?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is a pathological liar/radio one intern, Louis is a borderline alcoholic who works in a school library, Zayn is an English teacher, Liam is a tattoo artist, and Niall is a college-dropout bartender.   
> [Title from 'Miss Cigarette' by Rizzle Kicks]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both Harry and Louis recount their one night stands, Louis and Zayn make plans, and Harry gets a promotion...sort of.  
> Word Count: 1,339

"That was rude." Zayn spoke up when Louis shuffled into the kitchen.  
"Hm?" He opened a drawer. Where did they put the Advil?  
"Bringing someone back when you knew I was here."  
"Where'd we put the Advil?"  
"Far left cabinet, middle shelf. I never brought anyone back when I knew you'd be here."  
"I hear you and Liam going at it all the time." Louis pointed out once he spotted the bottle in question.  
"But it's only when he's already over. I don't bring him home just for that."  
"I'm sorry then."  
"No you aren't."  
"If you say so."  
"What were you thinking, going out anyway? Didn't you tell me not to let you get drunk on school nights?"  
"Yes. And you're doing a terrible job of it. I'm thinking about hiring someone else who isn't too busy cuddling."  
"Don't joke. Too early."  
"Sorry."  
"No you aren't."  
"If you say so."  
"/Louis./"  
Louis turned to face him exasperatedly. "What Zayn?" Zayn just stared at him warily.  
"Did you at least have a good time last night?"  
"Always do."  
"Remember his name?"  
"Barry." Louis paused thoughtfully. "Or Larry. Or Harry. Maybe Gary. Something like that."  
"Glad he was memorable." Zayn's tone was brimming with sarcasm.  
"He was...is! I'm going to be thinking about him all day."  
"Don't be sarcastic."  
"I won't if you won't. I'm off to shower. Got books to sort and children to shush!" And with those parting words, he was gone.  
~  
Harry walked in 12 minutes late with two cups of coffee, one almost empty, as usual.  
"What took you so long?" Nick asked after introducing the next song.  
"Traffic, a plane took up two whole lanes. And my alarm clock broke. I think a ghost smashed it last night." Harry lied.  
"Well buy a new one and be on time tomorrow. If it happens again I'm going to have to fire you." Nick retorted. They both knew that wasn't true. "Do you at least have my coffee?"  
"Oops, must've drank it instead of mine on accident." Harry dropped down on the chair next to his boss.  
"Sure you did." Nick grumbled. “I just really need some caffeine.”  
“Late night?”  
Nick scoffed. “You have no idea.”  
“I take it you and that guy really hit it off then. I believe a thanks is in order.” Harry grinned smugly.  
“You’re lucky I don’t slap you actually. He invited me back to his and- hold on.” He turned back to his microphone. “And that was Everything Everything with ‘Cough Cough’ on BBC’s Radio One. I’m Nick Grimshaw and if I can get up bright and early, so can you! Here’s another upbeat song to start your morning off right. We've got some Rita Ora for you now, this is ‘How We Do’. So anyway, the lad takes me back to his and we get there and he just breaks down sobbing and going on about how his life is shit!”  
“Well that’s a letdown.”  
“You bet your arse was! I wasted my whole night and my nice shirt got soaked. I think there was even snot on it!”  
“Oh that’s gross.” Harry tried to hide his grin by taking a sip of coffee.  
“I should’ve just taken Fringy away from you, I bet he put out.”  
“Yeah, I think I moaned ‘King Louis’ by mistake…twice. It was fine though. I don’t think he minded. He kept calling me Gary so I guess it all worked out.”  
“That’s…that’s proper weird mate. “  
“No, no it was…good. Yeah, it was good.” Harry spun around in his chair. “Reeeal good, if ya know what I mean.”  
“I hate it when you wink at me.”  
“I didn’t.”  
“See, you don’t even notice that you’re doing it anymore!”  
“Maybe it’s just an eye twitch.” Harry pouted.  
“Yeah alright, if you insist.” Nick grinned mischievously before turning back to his mic. “Welcome back to the show, that was the lovely Rita Ora, and my intern has an eye twitch.”  
“Hey!”  
“Oh stop it Styles, you know you love the attention. Anyway, we’ll have a special guest come in later and I was supposed to tell you who but for now I think I’ll have you all just wait in suspense. Ooh, Producer Ian is shaking his head at me. He hates it when I don’t follow the script.”  
~  
“Oh what a treat; tall, dark, /and/ handsome.” Louis gave an exaggerated wink. “What can I help you with, stranger?”  
“Piss off, you know I’m just signing in.” Zayn rolled his eyes and turned to lean on the counter. “Class, just fill in the first two rows. Log in and start typing up your papers. Remember, I give Mr. Tomlinson full permission to eavesdrop on your conversations if you have any, so I suggest you don’t.”  
“You’re sexy when you get all strict.” Louis trailed a finger town Zayn’s bicep.   
“It’s too early for this, Lou.” Zayn stepped behind the desk and made himself comfortable in Louis’ chair.  
“You’re no fun in the mornings.” Louis frowned, jumping up to sit next to a pile of books he’s too lazy to put away.  
“Then I’m fun at night?” Zayn propped his feet up on the desk beside Louis, crossing his ankles.  
“Sometimes.” Louis stated, swinging his feel, pointing them downward to see if he could touch the floor. He couldn’t. “You could prove it tonight? We could go out, like old times. It’ll be a laugh.”  
“You know we can’t; It’s a school night. And you went out last night. /And/ Liam’s coming over.”  
“Of course he is…” Louis mumbled, his feet stilling.  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zayn said defensively.  
“It’s just…he’s /always/ over.” Louis looked down at his lap.  
“I love him, Lou. You’ll get it when you-“  
“Find someone you love.” Louis finished monotonously. “So I’ve heard.”  
“Don’t be bitter. We’ll do something Friday, just the two of us, okay?”  
Louis looked up hopefully. “Promise?”  
“Promise.” Zayn gave a small smile. “Mark, stop playing games and write your paper!” he snapped authoritively. Louis jumped at the sudden outburst and knocked over the stack of books beside him.  
“I suppose that’s a sign I should put those away.”  
“Probably. It is your job after all.”  
“So it is.” Louis hopped off the desk and put the books in a cart. “Think you can hold down the fort here?”  
“Yeah I think I've got it.” Zayn clasped his hands behind his head and re-crossed his ankles.  
~  
“This song is shit.” Harry complained, screwing up his face in a grimace.   
“It’s the number three song in the country.” Nick pointed out.  
“It’s still shit.”  
“It’s catchy!”  
“Yeah, if by ‘catchy’ you mean annoying and repetitive.”  
“You hate almost everything we play, why do you even want to work here?”  
“It’s my dream to convert the public’s music taste into something much better one song at a time. And it helps with my plan to overthrow the Prime Minister and a quarter of the royal family.”  
“Oh yeah? How’s that going?”  
“Not very well, seeing as I don’t have a say in what’s being played. If only there was someone who could help me out…” Harry looked at Nick pointedly.  
Nick glanced at Ian, who shrugged. “Fine. One song a day.” He gave in.  
“And I get to announce it.” Harry pushed. “Like a proper DJ.”  
“And you get to announce it like a proper DJ.” Nick agreed.  
“And I get to start today.”  
“And you get to start tomorrow.” Nick raised his eyebrows, daring him to argue.  
“You’re the best Nick!” Harry shouted exaggeratedly, throwing his arms around the older man’s shoulders.  
“Oh shove off!” Nick grinned. “And go get me a coffee!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is a pathological liar/radio one intern, Louis is a borderline alcoholic who works in a school library, Zayn is an English teacher, Liam is a tattoo artist, and Niall is a college-dropout bartender.   
> [Title from 'Miss Cigarette' by Rizzle Kicks]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Louis meet again.  
> Word Count: 1,542

“You don’t have to leave, Lou.” Zayn commented half-heartedly, not really trying to stop him.  
“Thanks but I’d really rather not watch live porn in my living room.” He replied sarcastically, grabbing a book at random, and slamming the door behind him, not even bothering to put on his shoes. He had promised Zayn earlier he wouldn’t get completely pissed but it was either that or hand out in a sketchy park. Louis settled on the bar. He only ordered a few pints from the friendly blonde bartender, not enough to really affect him, or so he thought. It must have impaired his judgment though because later that night, just as it was getting dark, Louis found himself in a tree in the sketchy park, reading his book out loud.   
“Should you really be reading erotica in a public park?” A voice from down below interrupted him.  
“Pardon?” Louis looked away from his book and squinted to see the form below him in the fading light.  
“That’s 50 Shades of Grey, right? The book you’re reading?”  
“So what if it is?” Louis got defensive.  
The figure shrugged. “Just, it isn’t very appropriate.”  
“Well I’m not very appropriate. So there!”  
“Oh good, neither am I.” And it started towards the trunk, climbing up to Louis’ branch and straddling it. ‘It’ happened to be a boy. A nice looking boy, if Louis was being honest. He had nice looking eyes and a nice looking mouth and a nice little yellow umbrella that you’d find in a girly drink in his nice looking curls. Well shit, that seemed awfully familiar. “Oh.” The boy’s lips parted.  
“Oh.” Louis repeated, at a loss for words.  
“You look familiar.” The boy, Gary, if Louis remembered correctly, stated. Louis had two options here. One: he should admit to remembering him and have an awkward conversation follow and he’d have to avoid that bar and this park for the rest of his life, or two: he could skip the awkwardness altogether and lie.  
“Do I?”  
“Mhm, do I know you from somewhere?” Gary questioned.  
Louis went for option two. “Not that I’m aware of.”  
“Are you sure?” Gary pushed on.  
Louis feigned ignorance. “I must have one of those faces.” He gestured vaguely.  
“Hm. That must be it.” Gary looked away. And it was in that moment that Louis noticed a very prominent bulge in Gary’s impossibly tight jeans.  
Louis decided to make light of the situation. “Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?’ He joked lamely.  
“Hm? Oh, no. It’s a banana.” And sure enough, it was. A blush of embarrassment spread up Louis’ neck as Gary pulled a tiny banana out of his pocket.  
“Oh. It’s a baby nana.” Slipped out of Louis’ mouth. Gary stared at him for a split second before letting out a bark of laughter and slapping a hand over his mouth. Louis joined in too; glad making a fool out of himself was amusing to the other boy.  
“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day!” Gary finally got out when his giggling subsided. God, this boy actually /giggled/. “Baby nanas!” He repeated, and dug his phone out of his pocket. “Could you…?” Louis took the offered banana and held it up hesitantly with clear confusion written all over his face. Gary snapped a picture.  
“What’re you-“  
“Instagram. Do you have one so I could tag you?” Gary looked at him expectantly.  
“Uh…no.”  
“Well you should get one.”  
“Maybe-“  
“I’m Harry.” Oh. Oops.  
“Louis.”  
“Like the French king?” Shit.  
“Just like.” Louis said carefully.  
“Cool.” Harry just nodded happily. “So what brings you out here?”  
“Needed an escape,” Louis held up his book and it promptly fell from his hand and landed open on the ground below.  
“Hey your book fell.” Harry stated the obvious.  
“Yeah thanks.” Louis humored him. He swung his leg over the branch and almost fell as well.  
“Have you been drinking?” Harry looked concerned.  
“No!”  
Harry raised his eyebrows. “Oh really?”  
“Okay maybe a little bit.” Louis admitted.  
“Let me help you down.” Harry jumped off to the ground.  
“I’m a big boy; I can do it myself.” Louis insisted.  
“You’re going to hurt yourself. Come on, don’t be stubborn.”  
“Hmph. Hold your banana.” Harry caught it when Louis threw it down and stuck it in his back pocket.  
“Now give me your hand.”  
“Fine, but I don’t see why I can’t just do this mysel- Oomph!”  
“Ow!”  
“Oh god are you okay?”  
“You fell on me!”  
“Yes I realize.” Louis poked his cheek like that was a thing he just does and rolled off him.  
“You squished my banana.”  
“I’ll get you another. Are you going to get up or wha- OW FUCK BUGGER HOLY MOTHER OF SATAN OW OW OW!”  
“Louis?”  
“DO YOU NOT SEE THIS!?”  
“It’s quite dark; I can’t see much of anything right now.” Harry got to his feet and Louis grabbed onto his shoulder to keep steady while he stood on one foot.  
“THERE IS A BRANCH IMPALED IN MY FOOT!”  
“Hold still, would ya?” Harry bent down to inspect said impaled foot. “I don’t see anything.”  
“Well I can feel it and it hurts like hell.” Louis insisted, slinging an arm around Harry’s shoulders when he straightened back up.  
“Come on then, let’s get you off it. Hop on.” Harry slightly bent over.  
“Excuse me?”  
“Jump on my back; I’m going to get you in some light so I can fix your foot.” Harry motioned impatiently.  
Louis hesitated. “But…I’m too big to carry.”  
“Oh hush up, you dolt. You’re tiny as a teacup. I could carry you in my pocket.”  
“How do I know you aren’t taking me back to your secret sex dungeon or something?” Louis asked but got on anyway.  
“Because that’s all the way on the other side of town.”  
“You think you’re funny, don’t you?”  
“Sometimes,” Harry tried to keep the grin off his face. “Nah, I’m just going to take us back to my flat.”  
“Uhm,”  
“What?”  
“We’re practically strangers and I just…that’s weird?”  
“I need a new pair of jeans, seeing as how there is mushy fruit in these.” Harry readjusted Louis so he wouldn’t slip farther down his back. Louis stayed quiet as they made their way out of the park and down the pavement, trying not to think about the friction in-between them and how he was probably never going to find his book again (and somehow, he didn’t mind).  
~  
“Do me a favor, okay?” Harry set Louis down carefully right outside his door.  
“I will not scrape the banana out of your pocket.”  
“No, not that! I want you to promise me not to comment on my accent wall.”  
“Your what?”  
“Just…don’t say anything about my wall, alright?”  
“Yeah mate whatever you want. Just get me inside.” Louis ran his hands over his arms in an attempt to warm himself up. Harry swung his door open with a flourish and helped Louis inside, turning on the lights as they went to his sofa. “Oh!”  
“Don’t say it.” Harry warned.  
“No I like it, like the Toms fl-“  
“No!” Harry clapped a hand over Louis’ mouth, actually covering the whole lower half of his face. “It is /not/ the Toms flag. Just because it’s a while stripe on a blue wall, it does not make it a flag.”  
Louis took Harry’s hand away. “Yeah okay, it looks nothing like it.”  
“Now that we’ve got that covered, give me your foot. Why weren’t you wearing shoes? Oh it’s just a little splinter, you’re such a baby. Stay right here while I go get a needle.” Harry set Louis’ ankle on his coffee table and disappeared into the hallway. Louis took this as a perfect opportunity to snoop around. He picked up a stack of books and magazines that were beside his foot. Horses & Hounds, Vogue, a Nocturnal Animals edition Zoobook, a leather-bound journal, and Gone with the Wind. Louis set all except the Zoobook down beside him and started to flip through it.  
“Hey, did you know that badgers are actually really shy?” Louis called.  
“Of course I did.” Harry returned with a lazy, amused grin playing on his lips when he spotted Louis. “Wait, did you go through my things?” Harry stopped and the smile slipped off his face, turning it cold.  
“Yeah, I was just reading-“  
“Well you shouldn’t.” Harry sat on the edge of the couch and grabbed Louis’ ankle roughly to dig the splinter out.  
“Okay, sorry mate, I didn’t mean to upset you or anyth-“  
“I’m not upset.” Harry lied. “You should probably go. You can find your way back, right?”  
“Oh uh,” Louis stood up, confused about the sudden change in Harry. “Yeah I suppose so.”  
“Have a nice night.” Harry said distantly, shutting the door a bit too forcefully once Louis was outside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is a pathological liar/radio one intern, Louis is a borderline alcoholic who works in a school library, Zayn is an English teacher, Liam is a tattoo artist, and Niall is a college-dropout bartender.   
> [Title from 'Miss Cigarette' by Rizzle Kicks]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry goes to his therapist and realizes he's an idiot.  
> Word Count: 1,031  
> [A/N: I'm so sorry for taking so long to put this up, I had it written but I haaaaate typing things up. But I did. And here it is. Don't hate me. Sorry it's so short. And sorry there's so much dialog. Blehebhfdshhjhahjf. I'm going to go now.]

“Hello Mr. Styles.” The receptionist greeted Harry when he walked up to her desk. Ms. Fields is just finishing up with another client. She should be out in a few minutes.”  
“Thanks Joan.” Harry flashed her a smile. “How are the twins?”  
“They’re great thanks, Anna’s about to start school. How’ve you been?”  
“Fantastic, I actually just got a promotion.”  
“Really? Wow that’s awesome!” Joan looked impressed so Harry forged on.  
“Yep, I have a part of Nick Grimshaw’s Breakfast Show now.”  
“That’s huge, I’m happy for you! I’ll have to tune in sometime!”  
“Maybe I’ll give you a shoutout.” Harry shot her a wink as a conversation ender and sat down in his usual chair and flipped through a magazine he’d already read until Emily walked her appointment out.  
“Harry, come on in.” Emily offered him a warm smile. He settled into the comfortable leather chair and propped his feet up on the table, tossing his journal down too.  
“Actually before we start, I wanted some clarification on something.”  
“Go ahead.” Emily nodded.  
Harry recrossed his ankles and clasped his hands in his lap.” Well, just out there, I think I might’ve told a lie…more of an exaggeration really. I sort of lead her to believe something not really true.”  
“Did it feel like a lie? Emily asked. “Did you feel guilty for telling it?”  
“Yeah, I guess so.”  
“There you have it then. Write it down.” Emily instructed gently and waited for him to do so before they started talking again. “Alright so do you want to read from your journal or just talk to me about what has happened since your last visit?”  
Harry held up his journal. “I think I’ll just read if that’s fine with you?”  
“Of course,” Emily motioned for him to go on.  
“Okay, I told Nick that I was late because my cat only drinks milk fresh from a goat. And that the barista messed up his order and that’s why I drank his coffee.”  
“What parts were lies?” Emily scribbled something down in her notebook.  
“Well, I don’t have a cat anymore and the barista never messes up an order.”  
“Why did you feel the need to lie?”  
“Because I’m not very good at waking up and I like two cups of coffee but I don’t like carrying three.”  
“How could you solve those problems?”  
“Get up earlier and get an extra-large coffee for me so I can carry both?”  
“Very good.”   
“I did okay for most of the rest of Monday until I went to the pub. I told Niall I had gotten back from Italy.”  
“What part was a lie?”  
“I’ve never been that far south.”  
“Why did you feel the need?”  
“To sound interesting.”  
“How can you solve it?”  
“Be more interesting?”  
“Try again.”  
“Tell an interesting story about myself?”  
“It’ll feel much more rewarding.” Harry sighed but nodded in agreement anyway.  
“Then I saw Nick and I told him I was leaving for my brother’s wedding.” Emily opened her mouth to speak but Harry knew the drill. “I don’t have a brother. I don’t know why I said it, it just sort of slipped out. And I just have to be more careful.”  
“Any more?”  
“Just a small one-“  
“There are no small lies.” Harry looked down wordlessly. “Say it.”  
“There are no small lies.” Harry mumbled.  
“Continue.”  
“I told this bloke I was related to King Louis.”  
“And you aren’t?”  
“Not to my knowledge.”  
“Why did you lie?”  
“I wanted to keep the conversation flowing so I could get in his pants.” Emily started to speak but Harry cut her off again. “But I told him I lied. I corrected myself.”  
“Oh.” Emily blinked. “That’s good. Really good actually. You’re making progress.” She wrote something else down. “So how could you go about this in the future?”   
“Be honest? I don’t know…people lie to pull al the time.” Harry huffed in frustration.  
“Alright, we can take a break from that.” Emily put her notepad down and leaned back in her chair. “I’m going to ask you some questions and I want you to give me a one-word answer as quick as you can. Don’t think about it, just blurt it out.” Harry took his feet off the table and set at the edge of his seat. “What’s your favorite color?”  
“Black.” Harry answered immediately.   
“Favorite song?”  
“Don’t have-“  
“One word!”   
Harry faltered. “Uh, many!”   
“Last thing that made you sad?”  
“Splinters.”  
“Last time you cried?”   
“College.”  
“Last time you cried from laughing?”  
Harry didn’t answer straight away; instead he furrowed his eyebrows and took a few seconds to think about how to word it. “Week ago. I know that’s not one word but-“  
“It’s fine, I guess I didn’t really thing this game through. One more, okay?”  
“Okay.”  
“Last thing that made you happy?”  
“Splinters.”  
“Okay now we’re going to have to talk about those answers.” Harry groaned audibly. “Want to explain the significance of splinters?”  
“Not really.”  
“Oh?”  
“It’s just…there’s this boy,”  
“Oh.”  
“And he’s the one I lied to before, about the king thing. I saw him again. He pretended not to remember me.”  
“Ohhh.”  
“No, that doesn’t bother me. I thought there could’ve been something but… I caught him looking through my journal.”  
“Oh.” Emily frowned.  
“Well, I think he did. It was sitting next to him and he was looking through my other stuff.”  
“Oh?”  
“Stop saying that!”  
“Sorry, sorry. What did you do?”  
“I kicked him out. He had no right to invade my privacy. What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Harry got defensive.  
Emily cleared the skeptical look from her face. “It’s just…you don’t have any proof that he saw anything.”  
“But-“  
“How do you think he’d be feeling if he didn’t see anything?”  
“Confused. Rejected. Hurt.” Harry said quietly.  
“Now how do you feel?”  
“Like a prick.”  
“Well then.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is a pathological liar/radio one intern, Louis is a borderline alcoholic who works in a school library, Zayn is an English teacher, Liam is a tattoo artist, and Niall is a college-dropout bartender.   
> [Title from 'Miss Cigarette' by Rizzle Kicks]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Louis discovers Harry works for Radio One and does some other stuff.  
> Word Count: 538  
> [A/N: I know this one is super short, not even a chapter really, more of a blurb. Anyway, I thought since I took so long putting up chapter 4, I might as well just put up 5 as well. enjoy! or not...i don't know..]

“Lou?”  
“Hm?”  
“Are you going to tell me what happened?”  
“Why does it matter?  
“I just want to understand why you’re upset.” Zayn paused, flicking on the turn signal. “Is it me? Did we-“  
“No. ‘s not you.”  
“Lou what is it then?”  
“Just…bananas and splinters and badgers.” Louis grumbled.  
“Should I pretend to know what that means?” Zayn pulled onto the highway. Louis opted for turning up the volume on the radio for an answer. They listened to Rihanna in silence for a minute or so until her song ended and the host came back on.  
“Good morning everyone! I’m Nick Grimshaw for Radio One and starting today we will have a special segment from our very wet intern so-“  
“I’m only wet because I spilled my coffee-“  
“/My/ coffee” Nick interrupted.  
“Because I spilled his coffee. Anyway, I’m Harry Styles and this is The Cold War Kids with ‘Hang Me Up To Dry’.”   
“Oh you have /got/ to be kidding me!” Louis groaned, hitting his head against the window a few times.  
“Do you not like this song?”  
“No, I don’t even know it.”  
“Then why-“  
“It figures, ya know? /Of course/ he’d be into that hipster shit. So typical.”  
“I don’t-“  
“You had to come pick me up last night because the guy on the radio literally carried me back to his flat, nursed me back to health, and then kicked me out on the street.”  
“Oooookay…well…you’re going to have to give me a minute to process that.” Zayn furrowed his eyebrows in a very Liam-esque manner. Louis tried not to drum the beat of the song on his knee.Zayn pulled into the school parking lot. “Louis, did he like, hurt you in any way? Or did he pressure you to do anything you didn’t feel comfortable doing?”  
“What? No, god Zayn! He didn’t kidnap me and try to rape me if that’s what you’re thinking!”  
Zayn held up his hands in defense. “Sorry, sorry! Your explanation wasn’t exactly detailed so I had to fill in the gaps.”  
“Nothing happened, okay? I don’t want to talk about it.”  
“Alright,” Zayn turned off the car. “As long as you’re okay.” And they went to their respective rooms; Zayn to his classroom and Louis to the Library. Louis wouldn’t admit it if anyone asked, but he found himself humming that stupid, catchy song that Harry had played while shelving books. And he definitely wouldn’t admit that he called the station to request it.  
(“We’ll take that one into consideration sir.” Said the brisk voice at the end of the line, clearly meaning ‘No, we aren’t ever going to play it.’   
“It was played earlier during the Breakfast Show.” Louis pushed on.  
“I’ve already added it to the list of requests. There’s nothing else I can do.”  
“Well thanks anyway.”)  
And he’s deny it if anyone ever asked, but he might’ve taken a few sips from his secret vodka stash (school rules be damned) right after he decided to install instagram when the person from the radio hung up on him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is a pathological liar/radio one intern, Louis is a borderline alcoholic who works in a school library, Zayn is an English teacher, Liam is a tattoo artist, and Niall is a college-dropout bartender.   
> [Title from 'Miss Cigarette' by Rizzle Kicks]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry gets to work on time and gets a visitor.  
> Word Count: 511  
> [A/N: Sorry it's so short again! I promise the next one will be longer! I just need to set some things up, forgive me! I'll try to put the next one up soon but exams are coming up and I won't have much time! Let me know what you think! Holy shit that's a lot of exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!]

“Gooooood morning boss!” Harry chirped, setting a full cup down in front of Nick, smiling proudly.  
“Harry!” Nick glanced at his watch, confused. “You’re early. And with coffee.”  
“I’m /on time/ and with coffee.” Harry corrected, taking a sip of his own extra-large cup.  
“Wow. You know what, I’m not even going to question it.” Nick declared and picked up a sticky note from his monitor. “That song you played yesterday was on the requested list.”  
“Seriously? Oh that’s amazing! Did they play it again?” Harry dropped into his seat.  
“Are you high? Of course not. Maybe if it gets requested again in this time slot we’ll put it on.” Nick added when Harry’s face fell. “Good morning everyone! This is the Radio One Breakfast Show and I’m Nick Grimshaw. James Arthur is coming in later to play Call or Delete, I’ve got coffee for once, and we have a great show for you today so stay tuned. Here is Ed Sheeran with ‘Give Me Love’.”  
“Finally, a /good/ song,” Harry sighed in contentment, leaning back in his chair.  
“It’s a shame that you don’t get to enjoy it though.” Nick commented offhandedly, causing Harry’s head to perk back up. “Since you’re here on time, there’s a few things I need you to do.” He handed him a thick folder. “You can do your segment when you finish with this.”  
“But-“  
“Sorry mate, Ian’s orders. Better get started.” Nick didn’t look sorry.  
-  
Normally, Matt is the one who gets to work on time so he gets stuck with the folder of death while Harry gets to hang out with Nick. If Ian or Nick ever needed Matt for whatever reason, they would send Harry to go fetch him. That’s why Harry was surprised when his phone started to vibrate with Nick’s name on the screen. He figured he’d just send Matt for him.  
“Lo’?”  
“Harry! What’re you up to?”  
“Still working my way through that folder. ‘M in the copy room right now. Could I copy that packet with pink paper? It’s all I can find.”  
“I’d rather you not. I’ll send Matt with some white. Anyway, so I got a call from Melissa down at the front desk, yeah? And she said there was this bloke who was looking for you. So I told Matt to go down and take a picture so I could see who it was, ‘cause you know how nosey I am, and you’ll never guess who it was!”  
“Who?”  
“Remember that one you pulled earlier in the week from the bar? Fringy?” Harry blanched. “Well he showed up here with flowers! Looks like he’s the clingy type. I wonder how he even knew where you worked…”  
Harry swallowed hard. “You’re serious?”  
“Yeah!”  
“You better not be fucking with me.”  
“No, course ‘m not!”  
“You said he’s in the lobby?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Thanks mate, I’ve got to go!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is a pathological liar/radio one intern, Louis is a borderline alcoholic who works in a school library, Zayn is an English teacher, Liam is a tattoo artist, and Niall is a college-dropout bartender.   
> [Title from 'Miss Cigarette' by Rizzle Kicks]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grimmy almost gives Louis an STD and Louis is not a prostitute.  
> Word Count: 1,396  
> [A/N: It's exam week and I won't have any time to write but then I'm going on a cruise and hopefully I'll be able to pump out a few chapters! Thanks for being so patient with me xx]

Louis had his earbuds in and his BBC app’s volume turned up. He didn’t have a class scheduled to come in until after lunch and he was doing one of his favorite parts of his job: shelving. Well, not so much shelving as dancing in the aisles to that stupid Taylor Swift song they always play, only stopping when the host talks.  
“Welcome back, we have Mr. X-Factor winner James Arthur with us today!”  
“Hello,”  
“Now we’re going to play Call or Delete, do you know the rules?”  
‘Mhm.”  
“Alright well I’m going to explain them for anyone who’s listening and doesn’t. Basically, one person scrolls through their contacts until the other stops them. Whoever they land on either gets a prank call or deleted. Do you want to go first or should I?”  
“I’d rather you go first.”  
“Alright, tell me when to stop. Scrolling, scrolling-“  
“Stop!”  
“Ooh this’ll be fun! I have landed on… Harry Styles! This is a good one; he’s an intern here for me. What should I say?”  
“You should…tell him he has to come in at like, four am tomorrow to set up for Nicki Minaj.”  
“Nah, he wouldn’t come anyway. I know! Earlier in the week, I was with him in a pub and he hooked up and I didn’t and he teased me about it. What if I told him the guy called to tell him he has an std?”  
Louis sucked in a breath.  
“That sounds too harsh; tell him something like the guy is being really clingy and just showed up with flowers and chocolate or whatever.  
“Oh that’s brilliant! Alright it’s dialing.”  
Louis slid down the shelf so he was sitting down and brought his knees up to his chest. “Oh god.”  
“Lo’?” And there it was. His voice. It was a little faint and muffled but it was definitely him.  
“Lou? What’re you doing?” A foot kicked his. He looked up and shushed Zayn. He sat down next to him and Louis handed him an earphone.  
“M’ in the copy room right now. Could I copy that packet with pink paper? It’s all I can find.”  
“I’d rather you not. I’ll send Matt with some white. Anyway, so I got a call from Melissa down at the front desk, yeah? And she said there was this bloke who was looking for you. So I told Matt to go down and take a picture so I could see who it was, ‘cause you know how nosey I am, and you’ll never guess who it was!”  
“Who?”  
Louis gestured wildly and pointed at himself. ‘Me! They’re talking about me!’ he mouthed. Zayn’s eyebrows shot up.  
“Remember that one you pulled earlier in the week from the bar? Fringy? Well he showed up here with flowers! Looks like he’s the clingy type. I wonder how he even knew where you worked…”  
“You’re serious?”  
“Yeah!”  
“You better not be fucking with me.”  
“No, course ‘m not!”  
“You said he’s in the lobby?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Thanks mate, I’ve got to go!” The line went dead and Zayn started to speak but Louis shushed him again. Laughter erupted from the earphones.  
“That was amazing, he fell for it!”  
“I bet he’s on his way to the lobby right now!”  
“Ahh, and now it’s your turn, go on to your contacts-“  
Zayn took both of their earbuds out. “Lou…you were just talked about on national radio.”  
“He probably thinks I’m a complete stalker right now!” Louis buried his face in his crossed arms.  
“Yeah but then he’ll go and see you’re not there and that it’s a big joke.”  
“Or he’ll think I ran away to bug his flat or sniff his welcome mat.”  
“Well then you’ll just have to ring him and let him know you weren’t even there.”  
“I don’t even have his number. I’m fucked Zayn.”  
“You’re not fucked. Why do you care what he thinks? He sounds like a twat, leavin you all alone like that. What’re the chances you’ll ever see him again anyway?” Zayn slings an arm around Louis’ shoulders. “You’ll be just fine.”  
Louis rested his head on Zayn’s shoulder. “I guess so,”   
“Planning period is almost over, I should be heading back.” Zayn gave him one last squeeze. “I’ve got to pick Li up this afternoon, can you find your own way home?”  
“Yeah sure, I’ll catch a ride from someone.” Louis knew full well he was just going to walk to save himself the awkwardness of having to communicate with another faculty member. It seemed as if every teacher here, apart from Zayn, were a considerable amount older than him. But hell, Zayn didn’t have to know that.  
“We’re still on for tomorrow, yeah?” Zayn got up and dusted off his jeans. How he manages to not only pull off those jeans in school, but not get fired for the obvious dress code infraction as well, is a mystery to Louis. “Just you and me, mate.” He points to Louis as he saunters away.  
-  
“I’m not a prostitute please don’t slow down please don’t honk please stop looking at me,” Louis mumbles under his breath until the car passes him. He kept his head low and pulled his jacket tighter around himself to block out the biting chill. He could hear another car coming up behind him and he set to mutter his chant again. “Please don’t stop please ignore me I’m not selling my body I’m just trying to walk home,” And normally, he feels that saying these things works, no one has stopped him yet. But apparently today is his unlucky day. He hears the car slow dawn to a crawl beside him. /Shit shit shit shit./  
“Get in!” He hears a voice through his scarf that he has pulled up around his ears. /Maybe if I ignore it, the car will just go away/ he thinks foolishly. It doesn’t. Louis quickens his pace. “Look will you just get in? You’ve got to be freezing!” /ignore it ignore it ignore it/ “Louis stop being childish, just get in the fucking car!” Louis snaps his head up.  
/Oh./  
“Harry?”   
“Obviously. I know you’re mad at me and you have every right to be but that doesn’t mean you should freeze your balls off. Could you please just get in? There are people behind me and I’m afraid someone might get out and hit me.” What else was Louis to do? He crosses in front of Harry’s shitty car and wrenches the passenger door open.  
“You’ve got a shitty car.” Louis points out.  
“Yes I know this. Where do I go?” He turns up the heat and points all of the air vents towards Louis.  
“Just keep going straight.” Louis unwinds his scarf from practically his whole face. “Thanks.” He clears his throat. “For the ride and all.”  
“Yeah, anytime.”  
“Anytime except last night,” Louis grumbles before he can stop himself. Honestly, he needs to learn to filter the things coming from his brain to his mouth.  
Harry purses his lips. /Jesus Christ that shouldn’t look as adorable as it does./ “About that,” He starts. “I’m real sorry. I thought you were going through my things.”  
“Well, I was.” Louis admits.  
“So…you know.” Harry deflates a little. “You weren’t supposed to read that.”  
“I didn’t know you were so private about nocturnal animals.”  
“No I mean you know about what was in the journal.”  
“Harry the only thing I read was your Zoobook. Which I still can’t decide if it’s cute or quirky that you even have one of those.”  
Harry visibly relaxed a bit. “Oh. You didn’t… you didn’t read my journal?”  
“I just said I didn’t.”  
They rode along in silence for a minute or so.  
“Why can’t it be cute /and/ quirky?” Harry spoke up, the corners of his lips twitching up in a grin and his green green green eyes flicking to the side to gauge Louis’ reaction.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is a pathological liar/radio one intern, Louis is a borderline alcoholic who works in a school library, Zayn is an English teacher, Liam is a tattoo artist, and Niall is a college-dropout bartender.   
> [Title from 'Miss Cigarette' by Rizzle Kicks]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Louis doesn't know when to get out of a car and Zayn cancels plans. Also, there is a lot of rambling.  
> Word Count: 1,544

“Thanks uh, for the ride and everything.” Louis folded his scarf for what was probably the seventeenth time.  
“Yeah, didn’t want you to freeze.” Harry tapped his fingers nervously on the steering wheel.  
“So I should probably go-“  
“Do you want to go to a party with me?” Harry blurted out, turning to him with this expectant look on his face that Louis could have swooned at, right then and there. “It’s tomorrow night. I just, I don’t have anyone to go with and it’s not a big deal or whatever and you don’t have to go if you don’t want to but I thought maybe if you did then you could go with me?”  
‘I’d love to’ it was right on the tip of his tongue; and God, he wanted to say it. But he had made such a fuss about hanging out with Zayn and he couldn’t cancel… “I can’t” Harry’s face fell. Louis wanted to take it in his hands and kiss every single inch til he smiled again. “I have plans with a mate. I want to go, honest!”  
“Yeah, no, that’s fine. Maybe another time. It’s fine.”  
“I’ll see you around then, yeah?” Louis opened the door and put one foot out.  
“Course.” Harry had a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.   
“Bye.”  
“Bye Louis.” Harry blinked. “Are you going to get ou-“  
“Yeah, right, sorry. Bye. Again.” Louis shook his head and mentally cursed himself while stepping the rest of the way out and closing the door. Harry gave a little wave and pulled out of the parking spot. Louis stared after him until he felt too creepy and made his way up to his flat.  
-  
“Don’t hate me.” Zayn opened with when Louis walked through the door.  
“Oh god.” Louis just sighed.   
“I was picking Li up and he mentioned how tomorrow there’s this event for his work, yeah? And he was really happy so you know how I can’t say no when he’s happy, right? He needs me to be there with him Lou, I couldn’t disappoint him so I said I’d be there but only if you could come too so we can kind of have our guy’s night just like I promised and he said yeah so please don’t hate me or be mad please please please-“  
“Zayn shut up.” Louis hung his coat up by the door and plopped down onto the sofa. “I need a glass of wine.”  
“I’ll get it for you!” Zayn scampered to the kitchen and Louis smirked. “Red or white?”  
“Red.” Louis propped his feet up on their coffee table. “And I don’t hate you.”  
“Oh thank god, because you know how dramatic you can get sometimes. You can hold a grudge practically /forever/.” Zayn handed him his glass. “Besides, we can just reschedule guy’s night.”  
“Guess who I saw today.” Louis took a sip and smiled contentedly. “Harry. Harry from the radio Harry.”  
“When’d you see him?”  
“Doesn’t matter,” Louis brushed the question off. “He asked me to a party tomorrow and now I’m free. I just need to- DAMN IT ZAYN I DIDN’T GET HIS NUMBER!”   
“Whoa man, calm down.”  
“Why does the universe hate me? Did I do something in a past life to deserve this?”  
“Well now you can definitely go to Li’s work thing. The dress code is formal casual.”  
“What the hell does that even mean?” Louis took far more than a sip from his glass.  
-  
Louis hated riding in the backseat and he made that very clear before the three of them piled into Zayn’s car. But Louis hated riding in the front seat possibly even more than in the back because Liam kept leaning up to talk to Zayn and Zayn would try to stare lovingly into Liam’s eyes and Louis would get mad because ‘jesus christ Zayn, watch the road, are you trying to kill us!?’ and then Zayn would tear himself away from Liam and the cycle would just start over again. When they finally got to the tattoo parlor Liam worked at (all in one piece, thank god) Louis decided then and there he’d be riding in the back when they left.   
When they walked in they were greeted with a flute of champagne and Liam was immediately pulled into a conversation. Zayn listened in politely and laughed at the right moments while Louis stood off to the side and downed his glass. He had just swallowed and it was like time had slowed to those cliché moments in films. Harry was right across the room in sinfully skin-tight black jeans, a stoop neck white t-shirt that had to be intentionally that low to show two wing-tips poking out, and a fitted black blazer and Louis felt his jaw literally drop.   
“Zayn that’s Harry.” Louis nudged him and nodded in Harry’s direction. Louis gripped Zayn's arm probably a bit too tightly and hissed "Zayn he has tattoos I can't deal with this he has tattoos I just want to rip his shirt off and lick them you need to get me out of here or I might do it I’m unstable right now-"  
"Lou you hate tattoos. You said they were tacky and you hated that kind of commitment to a doodle."  
"Right, yes, I did say that but now I think I’m changing my stance on that issue because, not for myself or anything, but on Harry they look really, really good."  
“Besides, haven’t you already seen them? You did sleep with him you know.”  
“I don’t exactly remember much of anything from that night.”  
“Just go talk to him.”  
“I-“ and Harry’s gaze locked with Louis’. “Oh god he sees me. I’m going to go crawl in a hole and die now.” Harry’s smile brightened and he lifted his hand up in a wave and started towards him. “He’s coming over here what do I do Zayn help me- Hi Harry! Fancy seeing you here!” Louis smiled a bit manically.   
“Yeah, I thought you said you had plans with a mate. Didn’t expect to see you tonight.” Harry licked his lips and Louis thinks that maybe that should be illegal because they were candy pink and so, so obscene and Louis should probably stop staring at his lips now. He snapped his gaze back up to his eyes. Nope nope nope, not any better. He thinks maybe he could drown in them. He settles for staring at the tip of his nose.  
“And I thought you said you were going to a party!” Louis thinks maybe his smile looks like one a serial killer would have right about now.  
“This is a party,” Harry twisted around and gestured.  
“No, this is a celebration for a one year anniversary of a tattoo parlor. If this is your idea of a party, you need to get out more.” Louis grabbed another flute of champagne off of a waiter’s tray and downed it as well.  
“Yeah, I’m a bit of a shut in.” Harry winced. “Actually, no I’m not. Sorry.”  
“You look really good tonight.” Louis blurted, completely dismissing Harry’s last statement and throwing him off guard.  
“Oh. Thanks. You too.” He gestured at Louis. “You look good too. Really good.”  
“Louis!” Zayn clapped a hand on Louis’s shoulder. “What are you up to? Enjoying the party?”  
“Oh for god’s sake, this isn’t a- nevermind.” Louis shakes his head. “Zayn, this is Harry. Harry, Zayn.”  
“Nice to meet you.” Harry put out his outrageously large hand for Zayn to shake, which he did.  
“Likewise,” Zayn smiled the smile he does when he tries to show off his cheekbones. Liam came up beside him and slipped an arm around his boyfriend’s waist.  
“Liam, this is Harry. Harry, this is-“  
“Liam, mate, how’s it going?” Harry’s face melted into a warm smile and all Louis knew was that he wanted to be the cause of it every single time it ever made an appearance again.   
“You know each other?”  
“Yeah, I do his tattoos. How’s the one on your ankle doing? Healing up nicely?” Liam asked him as if they were old pals. Louis definitely wasn’t feeling jealous.  
“Yeah it looks great. Liam here is my favorite artist in all of London. He needs an award or something.” Harry held up his glass in recognition.   
“Yeah he’s a right Picasso.” Louis uttered bitterly. “So Harry, do you want to go get a drink or something?”  
“We already have drinks,” Harry pointed out, confusion altering his expression.   
“Let’s go get more then, shall we?” Louis tried to circle his fingers around his wrist to guide him away but they didn’t quite make it around the whole way. Louis shouldn’t find that as hot as he did. Regardless, it did the trick because they broke away from the crowd and found seats in the corner of the room.


End file.
